Again, Federal Gov’t Denies Subsidy Payment Despite High Landing Cost

The federal government has, once again, denied that it was paying extra money to augment the shortfall in the landing cost of refined petroleum products, a claim that betrays current economic realities.

According to reports attributed to Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria recently, the landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, was N1,117/litre as of July 16, 2024. That was based on the prevailing rate of N1,500 per one US dollar in the nation’s exchange market. That claim has not been rebuffed by the federal government.

The government said it has not made any payment as underrecovery for imported petrol products since May 29, 2023, when President Bola Tinubu abruptly announced an end to the fuel subsidy regime.

“Mr President said on May 29 that subsidy is gone. Subsidy is gone. We do not have a line in the budget for subsidy payment. We do not have payments being made whether in the budget or out by the federal government of Nigeria or even the federation directly for subsidy,” minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun, made the claim on Thursday in a response to a question by LEADERSHIP reporter during a media briefing in his Abuja office.

He said what has been happening was a situation where the NNPCL was carrying the burden of the spike in exchange rate variation as part of its responsibility to ensure availability of the product in the local market.